Tough on Crime Republicans Continue to Help Criminals Terrorize Public. Then Push Open Carry Gun Laws.

The funny thing about being tough on crime, where Republicans always put on a good show, is that it doesn't take care of the root cause of the problem. It's always after the fact. Republicans and the NRA continue to advance the very reason crime is flourishes, thus creating a need for their solutions like concealed and open carry laws to protect ourselves.

Conservative ideololgy avoids the easy answers, creating a phony public need for Republican leaders to be our overlords. They create a public dependency on conservative government. If a solution is thought to be liberal, it's not an answer. Take guns for instance.

NY Times: A study due to be released this week by a coalition called Mayors Against Illegal Guns uses previously unavailable federal gun data to identify what it says are the states that most often export guns used in crimes across state lines. It concludes that the 10 worst offenders per capita, led by Mississippi, West Virginia and Kentucky, supplied nearly half the 43,000 guns traced to crime scenes in other states last year.

The study also seeks to draw a link between gun trafficking and gun control laws by analyzing gun restrictions in all 50 states in areas like background checks for gun purchases, policies on concealed weapons permits and state inspections of gun dealers. It finds that, across the board, those states with less restrictive gun laws exported guns used in crimes at significantly higher rates than states with more stringent laws.

“There are 12,000 gun murders a year in our country, and this report makes it perfectly clear how common-sense trafficking laws can prevent many of them,” said Mr. Bloomberg, who is the co-chairman of the coalition. “For mayors around the country, this isn’t about gun control. It’s about crime control.” Among the targets will be closing the so-called gun show loophole.

Here's where the NRA steps in with a bizarre excuse that could easily apply to themselves:

Chris W. Cox, the National Rifle Association’s chief lobbyist in Washington, dismissed the upcoming report as “a cute little P.R. stunt.” “It’s completely bogus for a group with a clear political agenda to release some study based on selective statistics,” he said.

Not really a fact based comeback, is it? Of course the NRA doesn't have a political agenda "based on selective statistics" (for conservatives, this is a true statement).

Authors of the study, however, said they had conducted a careful analysis of reams of gun “trace” data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — showing the path of guns confiscated at crime scenes — in reaching their conclusions. They said the study provided the deepest look to date at how states export guns used in crimes and how that relates to gun restrictions in those states. The findings suggested that gun traffickers had sought out states with less restrictive gun-purchase laws.

“What this really shows is that bad laws really do equal more gun trafficking,” said John Feinblatt, Mr. Bloomberg’s chief policy adviser, “and that gaps in the law
really do make a difference.”

“Do I think Mayor Bloomberg and his group are desperate for relevancy in a debate where they have no legitimate role? Sure,” Mr. Cox said. “Do I think their approach will continue to be rejected by the American people and Congress? I do.”

Think about the NRA’s clearly stated position that mayors have no legitimate role in crime control. Ask yourself if that makes any sense.

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